Word+Pyramid

by Renee Cohen and Barbara Berkovich __renee.ca@gmail.com__ & bberkovichco@aol.com
 * Voice Writers** (formerly Word Pyramid)
 * Instructional Objective **

Players (learners) will be introduced to the career of voice writing, and have the opportunity to assess and improve their skill in repeating spoken phrases which they have just heard. ** Context of Use **

The //Voice Writers// game would be used in an academic setting in the context of preparing students to enter the field of commercial voice writing, also known as captioning. The students of voice writing typically include: 2-4 players place game pieces on the Start/Finish Square. Play advances around the board with players alternately reading and repeating phrases associated with common voice captioning job sites. Successful completion of a phrase earns the player a monetary reward. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins. From an educational standpoint, the object of the game is to expose potential candidates to the career field and recruit those that show proficiency in the skill set needed. For aspiring voice writers, the game offers practice drills for repeating phrases of speech.
 * High achieving high school students
 * University students
 * Adults looking to change career paths, for example vocational rehabilitation clients
 * Object of the Game **


 * Game Materials**

//Game Board// // Phrase Cards // – four sets, color coded to indicate the context of the speech that's likely to be heard (educational, courtroom, internet, or television). Each card has a $50 phrase and a $100 phrase of higher difficulty. //Game pieces// - for each player to move around the board //Die// – to determine first player, and advance game pieces around the board //Game Money// - in $20, $50, $100, and $500 denominations // Recording/Playback device // (handheld)


 * Time to Play Game**

The game can be played in about 30 minutes by 2 players. Additional players would increase the play time. The game board is easily set up by unfolding it from the box. The four sets of cards are placed in each center of the board on their corresponding colors. The kitty holds the game money sorted by denomination. A $500 bill from the game money is placed under the Bonus Corner. Test the recording/playback device to see if operational.
 * S** ** etup **


 * Rules of the Game**

Highest roller starts, and the play advances with a roll of a single die. When a player lands on a colored square, he or she draws a card from the corresponding phrase card pile (Education, Television, Internet, or Courtroom). The player then hands the card to an opponent without looking at it, and indicates whether the opponent should read the $50 or the $100 question. The opponent reads the phrase for that value. The player then repeats the phrase into the recording device. When the recording is played back the repetition will be judged “successful” if the player repeated the phrase without changing the meaning. The repetition does not need to match word-for-word, but the facts, names and ideas must remain unchanged. Any errors in //names//, //numbers//, or //dates// would be considered “unsuccessful”. If the player successfully repeats the phrase, then he or she may collect the monetary value of the phrase from the kitty. If the phrase was not repeated successfully the player gets no money. The next player rolls the die and play continues as described above. // “Perfection Bonus” // If the player repeats a phrase verbatim (no changes in wording) then he or she is entitled to a $20 “Perfection Bonus” // “Challenge Play” (for 3-4 players) // If a player’s repetition of a phrase is unsuccessful, then any opponent who did not read the phrase card may call out a “Challenge Play”. Without any further repetition of the phrase by the reader, the Challenger may attempt to repeat the phrase successfully. If achieved, the challenger collects the value of the question from the kitty, with the “Perfection Bonus” if applicable. If the original repetition was successful, but not verbatim, the Challenger may attempt to repeat the phrase word-for-word to collect the “Perfection Bonus”. // Penalty/Bonus corners // If a player lands on a corner square, they must follow the directions on the square - no phrase cards are read. // Ending the Game // The first player to reach the Finish must repeat a phrase correctly from any of the phrase categories. If successful, that player collects the value of the phrase, and the game ends. If not, play continues until the player on the Finish square successfully repeats a phrase from any of the categories. The player with the highest earnings at the end of the games wins. // Punctuation Bonus // Trained Voice Writers speak the punctuation into the transcript. A $20 “Punctuation Bonus” could be added for players who wish to practice this skill, or the players could agree at the beginning of the game to play “with punctuation”. // Single player practice. // Using the recording/playback device, a single player could practice individually with the phrase cards, using the recorder to check the accuracy of the repetitions. This could be done with or without the use of money for scoring//.// // Additional Phrase Card Categories // Extension packs of phrase cards could be developed for additional work environments such as legal applications, medical environments, insurance, technical or military work. // Language Extensions // Foreign language extension phrase cards could be developed to allow players to practice repetition of (Spanish-Spanish) or translation of (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) foreign language phrases. ** Development Process ** Describe the process you went through in putting the game together. What were your first thoughts? How did you enhance your ideas? What ideas did you consider and reject (and why?). How did you gather background information? What did you do to see if there are similar games out there? What did you do to get feedback on the idea? How did you flesh out the game to the point of having a playable prototype? How did you gather feedback from that? What lessons did you learn from this that you'll carry to your next game design project?
 * Variations and Extensions**

**Voice Writers Game Content Analysis **